The court will consider the following criteria to decide on alimony in a divorce in the District of Columbia:
•Ability of the party seeking alimony to be self-supporting;
•Time necessary for the party seeking alimony to gain sufficient education or training to enable that party to secure suitable employment;
•Standard of living that the parties established during their marriage but giving consideration to the fact that there will be two households to maintain;
•Duration of the marriage;
•Circumstances which contributed to the estrangement of the parties;
•Age of each party;
•Physical and mental condition of each party;
•Ability of the party from who alimony is sought to meet his or her needs while meeting the needs of the other party; and
•Financial needs and financial resources of each party.